Welcome to Talk Heathen! Today we have the newest member of the TH hosting team, Jimmy Jr, and Richard Gilliver fielding your queries about abortion and spiritual beliefs.

Michael in FL asks advice on dealing with the fear of hell. Oddly, he grew up believing in Annihilationism and is now feeling depression-like effects after a dream of going to hell. It’s just programming from religion so you don’t question your beliefs. It takes time to unlearn that. Look into Recovering from Religion and the secular therapy project. RecoveringfromReligion.org

Kyle in IN says there should be lines drawn where a fetus becomes a baby in regards to abortion. There are lines in place currently, they shouldn’t be legislated across the board. Every pregnancy is different. The decision to end a pregnancy should be between a medical professional and a patient. Don’t strip people’s bodily autonomy.

Marsha in CO wants to clear up misinformation that people use to justify their pro life stance. For example, late term abortions and bodily autonomy. We’re glad you called in.An outright ban puts people at risk if they encounter an emergency in the third trimester. Why do we question bodily autonomy when it comes to this one topic?

Nick in NY asks how we can incorporate religious, or “spiritual”, experiences without a god belief while not buying into the dogma. We definitely need new words to describe these concepts to get away from the implied religious ideas. Don’t buy into religion, that sense of wonder and awe is in all of us.

Stuart in England advises to not self censure and think through those questions when the fear of hell comes up. He was terrified of questioning his beliefs and those helped him during that time. Stay on the path of questioning and working through your hell beliefs.

Otari from Georgia claims abortion is murder because the pregnancy has signs of life. (sigh) Abortion isn’t even legally considered murder. The bible disagrees with your hard stance. That book supports and even gives instructions regarding abortion. Question your beliefs and why your religion contradicts your holy book.

Jack in FL says that he is pro abortion but it is killing a living human being. Terminating a pregnancy is not a killing, murder, or manslaughter. People need to have the freedom to talk to experts and decide to end their pregnancy.

Thank you for tuning in to your community! This week's Talk Heathen To Me prompt is: What is a sin that Jesus didn’t intend to die for?

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